Walk #231: In Praise of Hiking Boots...

Thursdays always makes Angel nervous.

She can feel the tension in the air, every other Thursday, as I start gathering my materials for the trip to Napa. She stares at me as I fill my suitcase. She whines as I throw some books into a backpack. She moans as I gather my toiletry bag. She follows me everywhere--to the bathroom, to the shed, to the pump house, to the car--as I pack it.

Wanting to get a last walk in with Angel before I head out to make my creditors happy (vis a vie visa)--I took Angel out in the noonday sun. I noticed that she would quickly trot from shade to shade. The rocks on the road look like they hurt her paws. Do dogs feel the heat like Dudley Moore on the sand in the movie "Ten"?

Got me to thinking about my shoes. Decent hiking shoes. I've had them since the summer of 2003. Purchased at REI they have been more than durable. I find that low top hiking boots are best, as your feet don't hurt when you walk on rocks.

This pair replaced the pair I bought in 1996, when living in Reno, Nevada--every weekend a troop from work would choose another peak in the Sierra to bag. Fun years! That pair finally wore out after I moved close to Arches National Park and spent all my free time hiking with friends in the Canyonlands and the mountains of the western slope of Colorado. Glorious years!

My new boots are getting a bit tattered now; maybe they will last a couple more seasons. Hiking boots should be purchased with the same frequency as your family car (maybe longer). They should last and last. Frankly, this $120 pair I bought has been worth every cent. I wear them everyday. They have been up Mt. Tallack. They have climbed Mt. St. Helena multiple times. They have walked every trail worth walking in Napa County. They have been worn on every walk these last 231 days.

Good boots, they are...